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Education panel here adds an expert

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A former Community Education Council 31 member known for his passion for researching educational policies has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the panel.

Ting Lei, a New Dorp resident, was a member of the CEC in 2008. He was appointed Monday night and his term lasts until June 2011.

Lei's son is an eighth-grader at Barnes Intermediate School and will be attending Staten Island Technical High School in the fall. His daughter will be entering kindergarten in September.

Lei, 52, said he was looking forward to coming back to the council because he can lend an expert perspective, having earned his doctorate in educational psychology from Harvard University that enables him to look underneath the surface of new governmental rules to see how they will impact the local community.

"Sometimes educational policies seem to look good but many times they're not," said Lei, who teaches educational psychology at the Teacher College at Columbia University.

CEC President Sam Pirozzolo said Lei stood out because he enjoys delving into complex topics and drawing up statistics.

"It was the consensus of the council that Ting's ability for data and information analysis would be a benefit to this council's work," he said. "I think the council has done a very good job in getting things done, but we're currently lacking in that."

There were seven applicants for the vacancy, however, most were unresponsive, he added.

Lei is filling the vacancy created by Alicia Harrison, who was bounced from the council after failing to show up at numerous meetings. Ms. Harrison previously said she started a demanding new job shortly after joining the council that prevented her from making it to the meetings.